Latest PPV and weekly show discussion thread

@drx25: didn't they just fire Prichard?

@papercut: They did, but, for the licenses to be made on time, it would have been during Prichard's reign as head of talent relations that they would have sent the paperwork to the athletic commission.

Place Bets Now: Which wrestler do you predict will be the next major star to die much too young? Ten years ago about this time, the Internet was buzzing that it'd be Kurt Angle. Good on him from switching from the type of supplements used in the attitude era that made your neck so big your head looked like a dick to the Bruce Lee ripped kind he has now in TNA. The easy picks are Jake and Razor, but trust DDP to actually be helping them.

What'd be most shocking to you? I think HHH.

WWE would jump at the chance to buy TNA, if only for the tape library. I doubt they would do another invasion storyline because of what you said. TNA just isn't big enough to warrant that.

I think TNA's financial struggles are being exaggerated. I don't think they are making a ton of money and might still be losing money, but I don't think they're on the verge of bankruptcy either.

@boocreepyfootdoctor: What a shitty thing

Or we could not do that.

Scott Hall is apparently on Steven Austin's podcast Thursday. Also Steven Austin has a podcast.

Christopher Daniels is a DJ host on one of the radio stations in Saints Row 4 for some reason.

what if they did the exact same thing as last time, not buying one franchise but 2 competitors at once. if they bought tna and ROH/chikara would they have enough of a influx of high talent to justify a invasion faction coming into wwe?

No because a vast majority of their audience would only know folks like Kurt Angle and Sting

Looks like WWE is going to rename the Over the Limit Pay Per View to WWE Battleground, according to Sky, WWE's European TV and PPV partner.

MONDAY NIGHT CHAT

TONIGHT...probably some royal baby jokes.

Man, I would love to have Angle back in the WWE. It would be awesome to see him get in the ring with guys like Punk, Bryan, and Ziggler. Hell, I want to see him and Big E have a go. The 3 I's vs. FIVE for the title of "Best Man In A Singlet".

Boy, it's amazing what could happen when you give two great wrestlers time in the ring against each other. Also, Bryan should have went over Ryback at the end there.

I have this horrible feeling Bryan will be about to beat Cena and Vince will come out and screw him, leading to a Vince loves big no talent sports entertainers versus Triple H loves wrestlers storyline.

So yeah, Brad Maddox is the best thing ever.

Its not about a lack of talent in TNA and/or ROH/Chikara, its about a lack of recognition. The vast majority of the WWE audience would have no idea who anyone from TNA/ROH are, unless they were ex-WWE guys.

GOTY

Can that Bryan-Cesaro match happen many, many more times please?

That was amazing. I though Cesaro was going to kill him with that flurry of European uppercuts. Now I'm super excited for that NXT match he just did with Zayn. Too bad it's still another 4 or 5 weeks away from airing

Really happy with the Bryan Gauntlet this week. Cesaro's flurry of European Uppercuts was a joy to behold (great to see him in the main event too). The rest of the show wasn't great with the lack of Bray Wyatt, an average (intense enough) CM Punk and THAT GODAMN MIZ TV SEGMENT (at least it was short).

Not too happy with how things are shaping up in the Cena-Bryan feud. I call it a feud but it barely resembles such a thing. Where's the rivalry; the intensity? It doesn't make sense to have two performers tussle over the belt without an ounce of spite between the two - it's all just been smiles and handshakes. There hasn't even been any "Face vs. Face" professional rivalry. That being said, there's still a couple of Raws until SummerSlam, which will hopefully put some fuel on this non-existent fire. AND KEEP RYBACK OUT OF MY DAZZLER FEUDS THANK YOU.

Yes, somebody please, I want a gif of uppercuts.

I'd like to go back to that divas segment, and that woman who slapped Jerry. HOLY SHIT. That was sub-pornography acting. I can't think if a single performance on any MST3K movie that was more wooden than that. I wonder if it will even end up on the YouTube page.

Between that and random Alex Riley, that is the best worst wrestling I like to see, combined with the best/best in Bryan/Antonio

So WrestlingIs put up this video, and it looks like Chikara is getting a reboot of some kind.

and if you look at Condor Security's twitter account, we now know what year it is in Chikara's universe.

Ryback can't beat somebody so gets pissed and puts them through a table - Storyline

WWE doesn't want Ryback losing to Bryan or vice-versa - Behind-the-scenes

Sigh, remember when people won clean in wrestling?

Cheap Plug: WNW is going to be at 10 PM EDT.

Main Event Spoilers:

Raw Cliffnotes:

@turboman: Beard Quack is freaking me out, man.

@drx25: Those Raw spoilers seem like something I don't have any interest in.

Speaking of things I don't have any interest in, this new ICP video features Rhyno, Sugar Slam in a Macho Man shirt and someone who resembles Jigsaw but I'm not sure. So, there ya go.

(Danny Brown's verse is also pretty good)

Sheetz claim WWE Champion John Cena & Mark Henry Vs. The Shield is being billed for a live-event post-'Slam. I hope this is just them keeping things secret... I don't know how long I can stomach Cena being champion before I decide to tune-out again.

In more "Oh God, TNA, You're a monster" news:

Jesse Sorensen (the guy that shattered his neck in a match against Zema Ion a while ago) was released by TNA, and is now asking for $600 to enter a bodybuilding competition (irrelevant, but seriously if you're in financial crisis, probably skip out on this). He's upset because Dixie promised him that TNA would keep him around.

Edit: Also, Dixie is doing an AMA with her Twittah account. If you search for #AskDixie, you will find constantly hilarious results.

Is it bad that I want TNA to come down in flames? WWE would pick up Samoa Joe in a heartbeat. And we could potentially see a new Joe vs Punk feud. Now think about how exciting that prospect is!

Live event advertisements are made well in advance. They can only advertise who is currently champion. Just because it is advertising Cena as champion at a post SS live event doesn't mean that he will actually still be champion. At best, live event ads might give us a hint as to future feuds/matches, but thats about it. Hell, the live event ads in my area were still advertising Dolph as champ even after he lost in back to Del Rio.

I knew they were old but not that old. I guess those things must have *Card Subject to Change* in huge letters huh?

So I just watched the Total Divas MizTV thing i missed from Monday

'Mania was interesting to me for the first time in years and that disappointed me that I didn't get tickets, but I was playing the odds when deciding on that one... The RAW after made me think maybe the WWE was finally on a good track.

Then the next few months happened. I felt like quitting watching completely and probably would have had I not bought MitB tickets. A few weeks before MitB it seemed to be finally getting interesting again and they've done a good job keeping the show good ever since IMO... even with the downer of Cena probably being champ for forever.

I'm hoping the WWE is on a long upswing but I can't help but watch every episode worried that it's going to go back to shit. I can't help but feel like a Sonic fan, where Sega releases a trailer and the cycle starts... fear, hope, excitement and then disappointment.

Not sure why I even wrote this, just felt like getting it off my chest after watching RAW and reading people's reactions to it. I guess I wonder if others keep experiencing this neverending cycle too...

@joshthebear: thank you, kind sir

WWE has had plenty of opportunities to pick up Samoa Joe and they have always passed. When asked why Triple H would probably say something like...

Referring to the nip slip? =)

WNW is at 10 PM EDT tonight.

But, in the meantime, come listen to Ricky Steamboat's WCW theme on loop here: http://cytu.be/r/Giantbomb

@synthesis_landale: I'm not exactly sure what you saw in this year's Mania: the undercard was fine and two of the main events were rematches (and the results were obvious). The Punk-Taker match was the only thing that had promise and it delivered, while Rock-Cena II was a complete bust.

Since then, WWE has been on an upswing. Don't get me wrong, a lot of Raw I fast-forward through, but the good stuff is getting better and the skippable stuff is slowing ever so slightly. The WWE goes through this every few months -- things can pick up speed for a little while and then suddenly explode. For me, look at Raw late last year. It sucked way more due to the main feuds being worthless, Daniel Bryan stuck doing nothing, The Shield not existing, and Bray Wyatt not being on Raw. Now, there is some amount of promise with the Punk feud, Daniel Bryan's hot streak and the aforementioned Wyatt & Shield. Of course this all be dead by Night of Champions when Ryback is World Champ and Cena is locked in a title feud with Blandy Boreton.

Dot Com posted an interesting list today of what they think are the 11 best matches that have been on RAW since it switched to 3 hours.

11. RVD vs Jericho (7/15/2013)

10. Cesaro vs Kofi vs Barrett vs R-Truth for the US Title (12/2/2012)

9. Orton vs Rhodes (4/29/2013)

8. Miz vs Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship (4/8/2013)

7. Kofi vs Ziggler #274 (9/24/2012)

6. Bryan vs Cesaro (7/22/2013)

5. Jericho vs CM Punk (2/4/2013)

4. Undertaker & Hell No vs The Shield (4/22/2013)

3. Bryan vs Orton Street Fight (6/24/2013)

2. Cena vs CM Punk #1 Contender's Match (2/24/2013)

1. Hell No & Kofi vs The Shield (5/20/2013)

I'm actually mostly happy with the top half of this list, but was genuinely shocked that they not only put the Shield/HN/Kofi match ahead of the Undertaker one, but put the Shield/HN/Kofi match on top of Cena and Punk.

I'm not saying the Kofi match wasn't good, it was fantastic, I'm just surprised they actually put them over the top men in their company.

AND I was so happy that they gave Cesaro and Bryan recognition for that amazing match they had on Monday, even if I would have preferred that in the top 4 or 5 than the street fight of Punk/Jericho.

Man I forgot some of those matches happened.

The Bryan/orton match is too high up for me, but the rest of the list is right on.

The Cena/Punk match should be #1, but I can't really complain with the Shield match being at the top.

Smackdown Cliffsnotes:

I need to make a human so I can make a Baby Ass Man Titantron.

@drx25: This Sandow and Rhodes thing is getting good.

THESE FONTS ARE KILLING ME.

Pick one out of the three right now. Or tell me that they all suck.

@turboman: Sorry, I've been meaning to get back to you with the updated logo and also I talked to another illustration friend of mine that is good with type and she gave me some tips. I'll try to get that email to you tonight.

I like the second one.

@drx25: I actually really like the sound of that episode of Smackdown. The only thing that worries me is RVD/Del Rio for the World title? No thanks.

@turboman: Second one